I usually think of green tomato recipes late into the harvest season when it’s not warm enough or sunny enough during the day to ripen those remaining green tomatoes on the vine. But I have so many green tomatoes growing on my tomato plants right now that it’s tempting to go ahead and pick a few to make this delicious bread. Green tomato bread is similar to a zucchini bread in that it’s packed with vegetables that you’d never know are there (another one of those great ways to sneak things in for picky eaters). You can freeze the puree in measure quantities at the end of the summer so that you’ll have this ready when needed to make this moist bread. I make the recipe with part Splenda to keep the sugar content down, but you can use all sugar instead. Same with the nonfat yogurt – use whatever type you like or even sour cream which gives it a nice tang.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Combine oil, yogurt, eggs, sugar, Splenda and green tomatoes in a large bowl and mix well. Sift together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices and add to wet ingredients along with the whole wheat flour. Stir together just until combined. Divide evenly between two prepared pans and bake just until a toothpick comes clean from the center of the bread, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pans, then remove. To retain moisture, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. May be frozen.

I just linked to this post in my blog and credited you with the awesome green maters picture. With the cold and (snow!) this weekend we were all in a hustle to put away garden hoses, harvest all that we could, and grieve. We may have been robbed of our warm autumn days and prolonged growing season, but we are celebrating all the bags of rescued green tomatoes. I spent three hours cutting and dicing them all and am glad I did. This dessert bread is a comfort food as we watch the icy forecast!

BeeARawFoodie – thanks for the link. I've done quite a few green tomato recipes recently – green tomato chili, coconut chicken stew with green tomatoes, green tomato relish. You can find them if you scroll back through the last week or two posts!

I have just found your link to this bread recipe and it is delicious. I did a blog posting about it posting photos of my attempts. Thank you so much for your recipe! It was most helpful to use some of my plethora of tomatoes.

I tried the recipe, but I think I’ll try substituting green tomato puree into my favorite zucchini bread recipe instead. The recipe here produces bread that is almost greasy, with an unappetizingly crisp top, and doesn’t have much in the way of flavor, to my taste.

The description is misleading, too, in case anyone thinks they are producing something remotely healthy. The bread is supposedly ‘packed’ with vegetables, but there are less than 2 tablespoons of tomato in each serving. That is not ‘packed’, sorry. Further, even using nonfat yogurt, there are almost 7 grams of fat per serving (though I couldn’t imagine getting 10 slices, much less ten servings, out of each loaf; my double batch made only three normally-sized loaves).

John, I’m sorry you weren’t happy with the recipe – I’ve made it many times to rave reviews. You might try to omit the oil all together – that’s actually how I usually make it but I was concerned readers would think it too dry so I added a little oil to the recipe. Omitting the oil removes 6 grams of fat per serving.

I think portion sizes have been greatly distorted in our country so that may account for your questioning the portions – it does, indeed, yield 10 slices per loaf and the recipe makes 2 loafs.

Using Splenda changes the texture somewhat and doesn’t allow it to rise as much – use all sugar and you’ll get a better looking loaf that might look like a larger slice.

Finally, on the comment of “packed” with vegetables – remember that this is being compared to another spice bread or pound cake dish that would have no vegetables in it. And the point of the post was to give people something to do with green tomatoes over the winter. It was never meant to be a substitute for eating a serving of vegetables – just a nice way to sneak a few more into your diet and use up those tomatoes.

Michele – I loved this recipe. I didn’t change a thing about it with the exception of adding a 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom. It was perfect! I love the half Splenda, half sugar combination (two diabetics in the household). Everyone, including two fairly choosy children who don’t like tomato, were amazed that all those left over green tomatoes could be turned into something so yummy. This will be added to our regualr sweet bread rotation. Thanks!!

Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe! As a first-time tomato grower, i was at a loss for what to do with all the green ones. This recipe is great…..i am still smacking my lips over a piece i just ate.

Thanks for this wonderful recipe! We only had just a few green tomatoes and I used everyone in this bread! I did substitute sugar for the Splenda and increased the cooking time. I may have used larger bread pans than you did. Anyway, the bread was a hit with my large family of children and adults as we gathered together to watch our favorite college football team win again!

Thanks for that! My father recently harvested a garden full of tomatoes before the winter really set in, and I found myself the proud owner of two or three buckets worth! Of course I couldnt eat them all like that, but I did find a website full of tons more tomato recipes at this site. A whole website dedicated the topic!! Crazy what you can find on the internets these days!!

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Just a couple of question from me: the recipe calls for 2 cups green tomatoes, pureed, juice drained and discarded. The way I read that, it sounds like you measure the tomatoes first and then puree them. After looking at your photo again, I am assuming that you are calling for the tomatoes to be pureed, drained and then measured. Am I correct in that thinking?

I assume you are still cooking in Denver, so are your recipes generally good for high altitudes or at least similar altitudes?

Hi Colette – I generally puree and freeze my green tomatoes at the end of the season for use during the winter. When you thaw them they will have alot of liquid that I drain off before using. If you are pureeing them and using them fresh, you should still let them drain in a strainer for a bit to remove excess water. And yes, you puree first them measure your puree for the recipe. I cook in Denver, so the recipe works for me at this altitude – but I must tell you I’m not a trained pastry chef, so if you have trouble, adjust according to any books or sites that offer tips on baking at various altitudes. Good luck with the bread!

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I made this bread last night with some of the many green tomatoes I had to harvest from the garden because of impending frost. I compromised on the oil and added half the amount in the recipe. I also used the Truvia baking blend (use 1/2 the amt. called for in the recipe). The loaves came out beautiful, moist and delicious. The loaves each cut at least 10 generous slices. This is a great way of using those green tomatoes.

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Please pardon my ignorance, but what exactly do you do to “puree” the tomatoes? Do you just put them through a food mill? Do you cook them first, or do anything else like blanch them? I’m kind of new to working with tomatoes, but we have shelves of green tomatoes right now. I’m really looking forward to trying this bread. Thank you for posting the recipe!

I would like you to know, that over the years I have made this, albeit gluten free (usually an unrecorded mixing of dozens of flours) and I would put the dough in muffin tins, and they would come out amazing.
I hate banana bread, and while this tastes like that, these muffins are way better.
I would Freeze the muffins and when I’d want to eat one (or realistically four) I’d warm them on the stove in some butter.

Tonight, I made them grain free, and I must say, this recipe holds up every time.
I just wish I had picked all the green maters before the hard frost (that I didn’t think would be that hard) two days ago so I could make this again.